Silo-brace.



A. HENKEL. y SILO BRACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, i915. V

1,178,641 Y Patented Apr. 11, 1916 A "u @Munito/v' H'HENKEL automneAUGUST HENKEL, OF CAMPBELL, NEBRASKA.

sito-Banen Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application led July 14, 1915. Serial No. 39,867.

To all 'whom it may concern: f

Be it known that I, AUGUST I-IENKEL, a

, citizen of the United Statesfresiding at Campbell, in'the county -ofFranklin and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Silo- Braces, of which the following is a specication,reference being had to the accompany ing drawings.

This invention relates to silos, and particularly to the bracingthereof.

The primary object of this invention is the provision of means forbracing silos and like structures which shall be simple, easily applied,and which shall be' extremely effective in supporting the silo againstthe pressure of wind or other stresses.

A further object of the, invention is the provision of a bracing meanscomprising a socket plate adapted to be initially attached to the silowall and a brace of such form and construction that it may be readilyapplied to or detached from the socket plate, the socket and brace beingso formed as to rigidly engage each other against movement of the siloin three directions but which will permit the ready removal of the braceitself.

Other objects will appear in the course of lthe following description. f

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a silo having braces constructed inaccordance with my invention, one of the braces being shown in frontview and the other in side view; Fig. 2 is a'perspective view of one ofthe socket plates detached from the silo; and Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing the manner in whichthe brace is connected to the socket plate and the manner in which thesocket plate is connected to the wall of the silo.-

Referring to these figures, 2 designates a silo of any usual or approvedconstruction. Disposed at intervals upon the wall of the silo and at anydesired height from the ground are a plurality of socket plates,designated generally 3. One of these plates is illustrated inl Fig. 2..Each plate comrises a base portion which is curved to conorm to thewall of the silo or otherwise made to conform to the contour of thestruc- -ture to which it is applied, and from this base projects theinverted U-shaped flange 4 which is preferably integral with the plateand may be cast as part thereof. The upper edge of the plate 3 and thehorizontal port1on of the flange 4 is downwardly inclined to` form aWater shed. The socket formed by the U-shaped ange 4 is narrower thanthe length of the base 3 so that laterally projectmg'wings are formed oneach side of the socket which are perforated as at 5 for the passage ofbolts which attach the socket plate to the wall of the silo. The basewith.

in this socket portion formed by the walls 4 is also perforated at aplurality of points, as

at 6, for the passage of bolts 7 whereby the brace 8 is held inengagement with the socket. The brace 8 is preferably hollow and ispreferably rectangular in cross section. The upper end of the brace iscut at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the brace, as shownclearly in Fig. 3, so as to provide a flat surface which will iitagainst the inside-face of the socket and the upper end of the brace iscut away, as at 9, so as to fit firmly against the horizontal portion ofthe outwardly projecting flange 4. The brace is of such width that theouter faces of the sidewalls will lit snugly lagainst the inner faces ofthe vertical portions of the flange 4. Thus the brace is firmly engagedwith the socket. The lower endof the brace is embedded in an anchoringblock 11 which may be made of concrete or other suitable material, thisanchoring block having an area considerably larger than the base so thatwhen it is buried in the ground it will resist any upward movement ofthebrace and also act as a foot resisting the downward movement ofthebrace.

In applying my invention to the silo or other structure, a reinforcingplate 12 is disposed upon the inner face of the silo wall. This plate-12has the same size asthe socket plate. Bolts 13 connect the plate 12 tothe socket plate, these bolts passingthrough the perforations 5. It isto be particularly noted that the plates 3 and the plates 12 have alength greater than their width and that the length of the platesextends transversely to the upright staves of the silo so that thestrain is not brought upon one stave, but is i when the silo is forcedagainst the bracev under the action of wind pressure. The braces are adjustedy with their upper ends in the socket plates as shown in Fig. 3,and then the bolts 7 are inserted through the proper perforations in thereinforcing plate 12 and through the perforations 6 in the socketplateand through perforations 16 formed in the upper wall of the brace. Wedgeshaped-washers 14 are then disposed upon the ends of the brace so as tobear lat against the outer face 'of the brace', and nuts 15 are appliedto the bolts 7 and screwed up, drawing the brace home and also drawingthe brace upward until it is snu ly engaged with.

the `outwardly projecting ange 4. -lt will be noted in Fig. 3 that theupper corner of the-brace is drawn snugly to the u )per corner of thesocket so that there c.n be no `downward movement or outward movement 1twill be seen that wind pressure upon f the silo and any stress whichwould tend to tip the silo is fully resisted by the braces appliedthereto, and that there' will be no giving or yielding of the connectionbetween the brace and the silo because of the fact that the brace bearsconstantly against the horizontal portion of the iange 4. `When the silounder the action of wind pressure or other causes tends to tip againstthe brace, the strain will be transmitted downward by the'dange and betransmitted to the downwardly extending brace and in turn to theanchoring block. Furthermore, this strain does not come alone upon thebolts 7 and indeed is only slightly borne by these bolts,

nor is very much strain placed upon the bolts 13. 1f considerable strainwere placed upon the bolts 7 and the bolts 13 it would tend to split thestaves forming the silo or cause the bolts to pull out.' The bolts,however, resist any tendency of the brace under strain to pull apartfrom the socket plate. 1t will be understood, of course, that when thesilo under the action of wind or other forces is tending to tip in onedirection and exert a compressive strain upon one brace, the oppositelydisposed brace will also resist the tipping action of the silo. |lihetipping movement of the silo will tend tocause a relative movement ofthe brace and of the socket plate so that the brace will rock at itslower corner of its upper end as upon a fulcrum. But this movement willnot only be resisted by the bolts 7 but will also beresisted by 'theengagement of the dat face 9 of the upper end of the brace with theander face of the horizontal portion of the flange 4. Thus the strainupon the bolts will be to some extent relieved. Lateral strains upon thebraces will be resisted by the vertical flanges 4 engaging with theupper ends of the braces.

My invention has been found veryv effec tive in practice. The braces areeasily applied or readily detached, and they firmly brace the structure.nections between the brace and the silo. At the same time the strainupon the silo* wall is distributed over a relatively large area and thusthere is no tendency to split the staves of the silo or otherwise damageit. The braces 8 beinghollow, arenrelatively light, may be easily put inplace, and at the same time the joint between each brace and the socketplate is so snug and so 'protected that water cannot enter the brace.

It is of course obvious that the brace may be filled with concrete, ifdesired, but this-is unnecessary unless the brace is made of relativelylight and thin material.

Under some circumstances it may be desirable to provide an intermediatebrace, designated 17 in Fig. l, this brace havin a head 18 which-l isbolted to the brace 8 and having at its-inner end a foot 19 having alength sutlicient to extend over a plurality or' staves ot" the silo,bolts passing .through this` foot and through a reinforcing member 20corresponding to the mem- 4ber l?. being 'lisposed upon the inner faceof the silo W-all. This brace 17, however, is only necessary where thebrace 8 is relatively long and the silo relatively high and where thereis a tendency of the silo wall to bulge under the pressure of theensilage contained within the silo. that inasmuch as the upper portionof the brace cannot move outward from the plate 3 and the lower portionof the brace is buried in the ground, it is practically im possible forthe silo wall to bulge unless the brace bends, and still the tendency ofthe silo to bulge will be relieved by the fact that the upper portion otthe silo is supported by the braces 8 which constitute legs in 4thatcase. Y

Having thus described my invention. what I claim is:

1. rlhe. combination with a structure having a vertical wall, of asocket plate mounted upon the wall and having an inverted U-shapedflange projecting from the face of the plate to provide parallelvertical portions, said iange forming a ysocket upon the face ot' theplate, a brace rectangular in cross section, the upper end of the bracefitting within the flange of the socket plate and,l the parallelvertical portions ot the socket engaging the side walls of the brace andpreventing rotation of the brace, fastening Pdevices passing through theupper There is no loose con- It will be seen I end of the brace,throughf the socket plate stares, the socketsplate at 'its middle por!tion being formed' with an inverted U- shaped flange projecting from theface of the'plate,` bolt'spas'sing through the socket yplate on either,side of the flange .andfastened to thefstaveso the silo,v a reinforcingplatehaving' afa' length approximately the same as the socket platedisposed upon the inside of thesilo wall with lWhichsaid bolts connect,a brace extending upward and inwardand engaging inl said socket platethe lower end of the-' brace being spaced lfrom the slo wall, anembedded anchoring member rigidly connected to the lower end yoit' thezbrace, and .bolts disposed yvertically aboveeach other passing throughtheupper end of said brace, 'throughlthe' socket plate and through saidreinforcing plate.

l 3. Thecombination with a silo, of a plurality of scketplates attachedto the wall thereof at spaced .int,e1vals, l'each plate havingv itsgreatest length extending horizontally and. staves of the-silo, the faceof each .plate being formedw'ith an integral inverted U- shaped flange,bolts passing lthrough the Copies of this-patent may be obtained foriivce cents each, by addressing `the a socket plate v thereforetransversely to thethe silo and engaging with the-corresponding socketformed by the flange on -said plateg`= embedded anchoring members eachrigidly lconl'rected to the lower end of one of said braces, and boltspassing through the wallofthe silo, the socket plate and the upper endof the brace and -holding' rality of' socket plates mounted upon thesilo the brace in engagement with the outer `:face y wall at its upper`end and at spaced intervals, a plurality of braces disposedv in planesradial-to the center of the silo, each brace engaging at its upper endwith'thefcorre-"r sponding, socket plate, the lower end of each bracebeing spaced from the si-lo and formed with an embedded anchor,

and an auxiliary intermediate brace attached toeach of they first-.namedbraces`and extending and enof the wall to bulge.

In testimonylwhereof I `hereunto aliix my signature inthe lpresence oftwolwitnesses. y AUGUST HENKEL.

Witnesses:

J. B, LAPORTE, H. M. LHEUREUX.

"Commissioner of Patents,

washington, n. c. l

'60. gaging against the wallof the silo' above. the ground'to therebyresist any tendency

